Latest news with #BattleMountain
Sydney Morning Herald
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
A gripping new thriller from the author who gives pulp fiction a good name
In Battle Mountain, he's 51, having aged along with the series since it began in 2002 with Open Season (when he was 32). Wife Marybeth, an active presence in every book, is now the director of the Twelve Sleep County Library, her research expertise regularly assisting Joe's investigations. And the little girls who sat on his knee in the early books are now young women making their ways in the world, away from home, their situations periodically foregrounded. Box's books can be read as stand-alone stories, but the series works best as a chronologically ordered account of Joe's life, the characters around him, and the changing face of rural America. Unlike Reacher, Joe is a stickler for the rules and his 'Dudley-Do-Right reputation' precedes him wherever he goes. That he is an honourable man can readily be seen in how he goes about his work and his life. When he comes across the state governor fishing without a licence in one of the early books, he tickets him the same way he would anybody else. When interviewing somebody he suspects of stepping out of line, he's learnt that a friendly opening – 'I guess you know why I'm here?' – is far more effective than a confrontation. He has a special dislike for trophy hunters, poachers, eco-terrorists and those who hunt out of season. Loading Again unlike Reacher, he's not skilled in the martial arts. He's not even a good shot when he grudgingly finds himself forced to take up arms, and he always needs help when the serious shooting starts. Which is where master falconer, former special forces operative and survivalist Nate Romanowski comes in. Introduced in Winter Kill (2003), he serves more or less the same function as Reacher does in Child's books. When he's accused of a crime he didn't commit, Joe stands by him, winning his undying loyalty. Simmering away beneath the surfaces of the stories is Box's dismay with the peculiarly American chaos that is also known as the state of the nation: the dangerous secret organisations festering around the fringes of its everyday life; the corrupt public officialdom that tarnishes its democracy; the plight of army veterans who've been exploited in hopeless foreign incursions; the hostility to migrants. In Battle Mountain, Marybeth's online investigations reveal that an FBI agent who has been asking after Joe and Nate had been engaged in several significant domestic terrorist events that have remained unhealed wounds on the American psyche (and that include the January 6 riots in the nation's capital). Nate is at the heart of the new book. Joe doesn't appear until page 51, although he and Marybeth are still central to the plot. Nate is bent on tracking down and wreaking vengeance upon Axel Soledad, a fellow special forces soldier gone rogue, who first appears in Shadows Reel (2022), and has been lying in wait ever since. As Box calmly and capably winds together the various plot threads, events unfold in a savage terrain littered with small towns, isolated farmhouses and shacks, and a tourist haven for privileged easterners known as the B-Lazy-U Ranch. At stake is what is described early on as not just a threat to the characters but dangers that could 'possibly alter the trajectory of the nation itself'. And like most of the preceding books in the series, it's unputdownable.
The Age
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Age
A gripping new thriller from the author who gives pulp fiction a good name
In Battle Mountain, he's 51, having aged along with the series since it began in 2002 with Open Season (when he was 32). Wife Marybeth, an active presence in every book, is now the director of the Twelve Sleep County Library, her research expertise regularly assisting Joe's investigations. And the little girls who sat on his knee in the early books are now young women making their ways in the world, away from home, their situations periodically foregrounded. Box's books can be read as stand-alone stories, but the series works best as a chronologically ordered account of Joe's life, the characters around him, and the changing face of rural America. Unlike Reacher, Joe is a stickler for the rules and his 'Dudley-Do-Right reputation' precedes him wherever he goes. That he is an honourable man can readily be seen in how he goes about his work and his life. When he comes across the state governor fishing without a licence in one of the early books, he tickets him the same way he would anybody else. When interviewing somebody he suspects of stepping out of line, he's learnt that a friendly opening – 'I guess you know why I'm here?' – is far more effective than a confrontation. He has a special dislike for trophy hunters, poachers, eco-terrorists and those who hunt out of season. Loading Again unlike Reacher, he's not skilled in the martial arts. He's not even a good shot when he grudgingly finds himself forced to take up arms, and he always needs help when the serious shooting starts. Which is where master falconer, former special forces operative and survivalist Nate Romanowski comes in. Introduced in Winter Kill (2003), he serves more or less the same function as Reacher does in Child's books. When he's accused of a crime he didn't commit, Joe stands by him, winning his undying loyalty. Simmering away beneath the surfaces of the stories is Box's dismay with the peculiarly American chaos that is also known as the state of the nation: the dangerous secret organisations festering around the fringes of its everyday life; the corrupt public officialdom that tarnishes its democracy; the plight of army veterans who've been exploited in hopeless foreign incursions; the hostility to migrants. In Battle Mountain, Marybeth's online investigations reveal that an FBI agent who has been asking after Joe and Nate had been engaged in several significant domestic terrorist events that have remained unhealed wounds on the American psyche (and that include the January 6 riots in the nation's capital). Nate is at the heart of the new book. Joe doesn't appear until page 51, although he and Marybeth are still central to the plot. Nate is bent on tracking down and wreaking vengeance upon Axel Soledad, a fellow special forces soldier gone rogue, who first appears in Shadows Reel (2022), and has been lying in wait ever since. As Box calmly and capably winds together the various plot threads, events unfold in a savage terrain littered with small towns, isolated farmhouses and shacks, and a tourist haven for privileged easterners known as the B-Lazy-U Ranch. At stake is what is described early on as not just a threat to the characters but dangers that could 'possibly alter the trajectory of the nation itself'. And like most of the preceding books in the series, it's unputdownable.
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Book Review: Terrorists gather in C.J. Box's new Joe Pickett novel, 'Battle Mountain'
Wyoming Gov. Spencer Rulon has a problem. His son-in-law hired a guide, disappeared into the southern Wyoming wilderness to hunt elk, and hasn't been heard from since. So once again, Rulon turns to game warden Joe Pickett, whom he's come to regard as his own private problem-solver. But that's far from all that goes on in 'Battle Mountain,' the 25th novel in C.J. Box's crime fiction series featuring Pickett. Corporate and government leaders of America's military-industrial complex are gathering for a secret meeting at a remote Wyoming resort near the elk hunting grounds. Pickett's off-the-grid pal Nate Romanowski is trying to track down a violent criminal named Axel Soledad, who killed Nate's wife in violent rampage in a previous novel, 'Three-Inch Teeth' (2024). And Soledad, it turns out, has surreptitiously recruited a small army of terrorists to attack the secret meeting. Unbeknownst to any of them, they are all on a collision course as they venture into the wilderness in the shadow of a towering peak called 'Battle Mountain.' As faithful readers of the Pickett series know, Nate is a falconer, and he carries his birds with him on his hunt for Soledad. But this time, when Nate launches his birds into the sky, he 'sees' the landscape through their eyes. This unexpected introduction of mysticism may be off-putting to some readers. Nevertheless, Box does a fine job of pulling the disparate threads of his complex story together; and he keeps readers guessing about who will live and who will die as the suspenseful, fast-paced tale heads to a violent conclusion. However, the novel contains so many references to incidents in previous books that first-time Box readers may feel a bit lost. ___ Bruce DeSilva, winner of the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Award, is the author of the Mulligan crime novels including 'The Dread Line.' ___ AP book reviews:
Associated Press
24-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Book Review: Terrorists gather in C.J. Box's new Joe Pickett novel, ‘Battle Mountain'
Wyoming Gov. Spencer Rulon has a problem. His son-in-law hired a guide, disappeared into the southern Wyoming wilderness to hunt elk, and hasn't been heard from since. So once again, Rulon turns to game warden Joe Pickett, whom he's come to regard as his own private problem-solver. But that's far from all that goes on in 'Battle Mountain,' the 25th novel in C.J. Box's crime fiction series featuring Pickett. Corporate and government leaders of America's military-industrial complex are gathering for a secret meeting at a remote Wyoming resort near the elk hunting grounds. Pickett's off-the-grid pal Nate Romanowski is trying to track down a violent criminal named Axel Soledad, who killed Nate's wife in violent rampage in a previous novel, 'Three-Inch Teeth' (2024). And Soledad, it turns out, has surreptitiously recruited a small army of terrorists to attack the secret meeting. Unbeknownst to any of them, they are all on a collision course as they venture into the wilderness in the shadow of a towering peak called 'Battle Mountain.' As faithful readers of the Pickett series know, Nate is a falconer, and he carries his birds with him on his hunt for Soledad. But this time, when Nate launches his birds into the sky, he 'sees' the landscape through their eyes. This unexpected introduction of mysticism may be off-putting to some readers. Nevertheless, Box does a fine job of pulling the disparate threads of his complex story together; and he keeps readers guessing about who will live and who will die as the suspenseful, fast-paced tale heads to a violent conclusion. However, the novel contains so many references to incidents in previous books that first-time Box readers may feel a bit lost. ___ Bruce DeSilva, winner of the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Award, is the author of the Mulligan crime novels including 'The Dread Line.' ___
